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Prime Minister John Howard today vowed not to abuse the
coalition government's control of the Senate.

Nationals candidate Barnaby Joyce and Liberal Russell Trood
today won the fifth and sixth Senate seats in Queensland, giving
the government a majority in both houses of parliament for the
first time since 1981.

The result means the government will have the power to push
through changes such as the full sale of Telstra and watering down
unfair dismissal laws.

Both initiatives have been rejected several times by the Senate
in the past.

Mr Howard said the Senate outcome was good for his government,
but it would not abuse the privilege.

"It's a very good outcome but I want to assure the Australian
people that the government will use its majority in the new Senate
very carefully, very wisely and not provocatively,'' Mr Howard told
reporters in Sydney.

"We intend to do the things we've promised the Australian people
we would do, but we don't intend to allow this unexpected but
welcome majority in the Senate to go to our heads.

"We certainly won't be abusing our newfound position. We will
continue to listen to the people and we'll continue to stay in
touch with the public that has invested great trust and confidence
in us.''

Mr Howard said it was a truly remarkable victory for coalition
parties in Queensland to win four of the six Senate seats in that
state.

"It's a result that few people expected, it's a great tribute to
John Anderson's leadership of the National Party and the work of
Ron Boswell as leader of the National Party in the Senate,'' he
said.

Mr Trood had already been generally acknowledged as winner of
the fifth seat, leaving the sixth undecided, but after the
computerised distribution of preferences, Mr Joyce received a total
of 341,786 votes to edge ahead of Mr Trood on 335,638.

Mr Boswell burst into tears when the result was declared
and called Mr Howard to deliver the good news.

Senator Boswell said it was an "historic day for Australia".

Asked whether the Senate would be a rubber stamp now for the
government, Senator Boswell told reporters in Brisbane: "The prime
minister has said he is not going to abuse the power and he is
going to be very careful what he puts through.

"He said he will be very happy to work with us ... this is the
icing on his cake."

The victory gave the government an unprecedented opportunity to
implement its mandate, according to Government Senate leader Robert
Hill.

Senator Hill welcomed Senator Joyce to the fold. "The government
now has a once in a generation opportunity to fully implement its
mandate, which we will do in the interests of all Australians," he
said through a spokeswoman.

Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett said Australians would
have to watch the Senate closely now minor parties had lost the
balance of power.